SCOTUS Watch: Part II

Order List

The final summer order list is even shorter than the first two. It's one page long with two "motions of petitioners to dispense with printing the joint appendices are granted," ten rehearings denied, and one "motion for leave to file a petition for rehearing is denied." It's so short, it has no unexplained recusals!

Justice News 

Ginni Thomas is unsurprisingly not a fan of court reform. More on Justice Jackson's memoir. Justice Alito has some financial disclosures. No more flags. 

Trump Trials 

Florida 

Thomas-adjacent: Judge Cannon should be removed from the classified documents case!

New York 

Trump's election interference trial (NY) reached a verdict. The sentencing was originally scheduled for July, right before the Republican Convention. Then, it was postponed to September. 

Now, it has been postponed until after the election. Judge Merchan also pushed back until Nov. 12 his decision on whether Trump’s conviction in New York should be impacted by a recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. 

I surely hope that the ruling is that the case is based on unofficial conduct and not defeated by that asinine ruling. But who knows at this point? On that front, maybe it is a good thing that is coming after the election! 

The whole thing is aggravating but we should recall -- and reading comments online, not sure if people keep this in mind -- any sentence will be surely be held up and appealed. He won't be put in prison, if it comes to that, right away. It is more of an election messaging thing. We already know he is guilty of 34 felonies. 

The prosecutor was agnostic about the sentencing date. Is the judge really off base to bend over backward to play it safe regarding appearances of impropriety and everything else? Probably not.

(This doesn't make it much less annoying, except to a degree some predict he will give jail time.) 

D.C. 

There was also a hearing for the federal election subversion case againt Trump.